Well, today is Resurrection Day and our sermon is entitled, This Jesus God Raised Up. The truth of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is at the cornerstone of our faith. Concerning the centrality of the resurrection to the faith, our faith, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15, 13, 14, and 17. If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith is also in vain. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins. The Christian faith, our faith, the true faith, stands upon the foundation of the resurrected Christ. All of the promises of God from Genesis to Revelation, the promises of the Messiah of saving grace and eternal life hinge upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it has been said that no single event has been better attested to than the resurrection. His resurrection was prophesied in the Old Testament and foretold by Jesus himself and fulfilled as recorded in the New Testament. John 20 tells us that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples on the first day of the week, with the exception of Thomas, whom he appeared to eight days later. Acts chapter one reports that after his resurrection, he presented himself to his apostles by many infallible proofs, appearing and speaking to them over a period of 40 days. Paul wrote, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12, after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as Paul said, to one untimely born, that is, he appeared to me also. with the resurrection of Christ Jesus impeccably established in the pages of scripture, and with the flawless accounts of numerous eyewitnesses recorded in holy writ, and with the Holy Spirit irrefutably bearing witness saying the amen, we hold the resurrection of Jesus Christ to be true, scripturally true, true for all eternity. Let God be true, and every man a liar, And the church said, amen. Christ's resurrection assures us that he truly saves all who trust in him, raising the believer from sin to righteousness, from death to life, from hell to heaven. His resurrection guarantees our perfect eternal future, for he who raised the Lord Jesus from the grave will also raise us up with him. Beloved, as the scripture says, even if we die, yet shall we live. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is at the cornerstone of the Christian faith, at the very heart of the gospel message as it has been since the day of Pentecost. Well, this morning, in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I would like to examine a portion of the Apostle Peter's Acts 2, Day of Pentecost sermon. In this, we will read that God raised Jesus from the dead, making him both Lord and Christ. So I'm gonna ask you to please open your Bibles to Acts 2. And instead of one reading, I'll read a little bit, we'll move along, I'll read a little bit and we'll move along, okay? So with your Bibles open to Acts chapter two, we will begin to read at verse 22. And as you open your Bibles, I offer a little bit of background. Christ at this point in the scripture has suffered the cross and died. He was buried in the tomb and he rose on the third day. Over the course of 40 days, he appeared before many, and then, having promised to send the Holy Spirit upon his people, he ascended into heaven. As instructed and promised, Jesus' followers remained in Jerusalem to receive this power. Having gathered in the upper room, the Holy Spirit descended upon them. And Acts chapter two, verse four says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Well, as the Holy Spirit came and there was a sound of a great and rushing mighty wind, and now these people are speaking in other languages, this created a great stir. And because it was a festival time in the city, people from all over had gathered. And so that stir gathered a great multitude. People were coming to say, what in the world is going on? Being from many nations, the people were bewildered because they were each one hearing them speak in his own language. They said, we hear them in our own tongues, our own native language, speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And being amazed, they were asking, what does this mean? What is this about? What's going on here? What does this mean? It was then, that the apostle Peter began to preach explaining that this event was in fulfillment of what was spoken through the prophet Joel. As Peter quoted Joel's prophecy, he ended by saying in verse 21, and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, we have to reason a little bit here. If it is that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike from all the nations, who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, then there must be an understanding or an explanation of who this saving Lord is. And this is exactly what Peter began to reveal, preaching who this Lord is, why he is Lord, and why those who call on his name will be saved. So as we consider Acts chapter two, verses 22 through 39, we will learn of Jesus, the Lord. We will learn of Jesus, the crucified. We will learn of Jesus, the resurrected, Jesus, the exalted, and Jesus, the savior. But for the apostle Peter, having just said, and it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Peter, without missing a beat, immediately identifies this Lord as Jesus the Nazarene. Verse 22, Acts 2, 22. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst just as you yourselves know. Jesus the Lord, by the will of God. With the outpouring of Pentecost taking place, being freshly endued with power by the Holy Spirit and with onlookers asking, what does this mean? How nice it must have been to have a ready-made audience. People saying, what is this about? Peter finds himself in the perfect place to proclaim Jesus as Lord. So he boldly stood and addressed the inquiring audience saying, men of Israel, listen to these words. And then having gathered their attention, he immediately began to preach Jesus. He immediately began to tell them who this saving Lord is. And he identified this Jesus as Jesus the Nazarene. He was from Nazareth. All would know this Jesus. Peter was speaking of the Jesus who was born of the virgin, who had gone about healing and feeding the multitudes. Many of them there probably had eaten some of the loaves and fishes. Some of them perhaps had sat on the hillside and heard him speak. Some of them had witnessed him coming into the temple and overthrowing the tables. Some of them knew some of the people who had been healed. And if they hadn't had firsthand experience for sure, they had heard about it. Some of them are probably those who welcomed him at the triumphal entry. So they understand that Peter is speaking of Jesus the Nazarene, born of the Virgin, who had gone about healing and feeding multitudes, who calmed the sea, who raised the dead, and ironically then was crucified just 53 days earlier. That's the Jesus he's talking about. This Jesus, the Nazarene, Peter says, was a man proved to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. So Peter makes it clear that this Jesus from Nazareth, this Jesus didn't simply work miracles, but that God performed those miracles and wonders and signs through him. And this is significant. It wasn't that Jesus was a prophet who had a gift he exercised, but Jesus was one through whom God personally worked, and as the tense has it, continued to work through. Remember in John chapter three, the story of Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, and he said in John three, verse two, Rabbi. So he's saying teacher, Rabbi, teacher. We know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. I want to tell you, church, what a vast difference between God being with Jesus and God working through Jesus. Jesus is not a teacher come from God who can work some miracles, but Jesus is God, very God, Lord of lords, King of kings, whom God is working through as his only begotten son. God being with Jesus makes Jesus a great teacher from God, but God working through Jesus makes Jesus Lord. Thus in verse 36, Peter outright declared, therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, Lord and Messiah. The Lord Jesus came to be the Messiah, the Christ who would give his life to save us of our sin. It was by this that God performed miracles and wonders and signs through Jesus that God himself affirmed Jesus. Jesus was uniquely attested by God. Now we remember when John the Baptist baptized him, the spirit came down like a dove, said, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased, amen. We recall all that. But this is something that Jesus went around doing as God worked miracles and wonders and signs through him where he was healing multitudes, where he was feeding multitudes, where he was confounding the leaders, where he was speaking and they said, we've never heard anybody speak like this before. You see, God leaves nothing to the imagination as to who Jesus is. Jesus the Nazarene was attested by God as God worked through him, performing miracles and wonders and signs as Peter says to them, just as you yourselves know. That's a definitive statement. You know it, you saw it, you witnessed who he was. They knew this Jesus. They knew who he was for God revealed Jesus before them in their midst, even as one of them as a Jew. They were firsthand witnesses of this Jesus and I want to say my indeed how they knew. John chapter 20 verse 30 states that Jesus performed many wondrous signs which are not written in this book. John writes in chapter 21 verse 25 that his miracles were so numerous that if they were all recorded in detail that John supposes that the world itself could not contain the volumes. But according to 20, 30, these that were written, what we have the record of here in the scripture, they were written for a witness to us that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing we may have life in him. As Israel bore firsthand witness of Jesus' miracles, Peter says, just as you yourselves know, it is to say, not only is Jesus Lord as proven by God, but he is obviously and unmistakably Lord and you know it. You can deny what you know, you can ignore the obvious, but you know, Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. How long will you deny Him when even now you reject Him, but you know He's Lord? He is the Son of God. He is the Christ of God. He is God, very God. He is Lord of Lord, King of kings, ruler, master, savior. It is by his name and his name alone that we must be saved. You can trust in any number of people, but there is only one who saves and that is Jesus. You must trust in Jesus, in his name, believing in his name, which means you subscribe to him. You believe in him. Jesus is Lord and I encourage you to believe on him. So Jesus is Lord, verse 23 now. This man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. Well, let's talk about Jesus the crucified. This man, this Jesus the Nazarene, born of the virgin, who went about healing the sick, performing miracles as God worked through him, who fed the multitudes, who raised the dead. This Jesus, the Lord Jesus, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. Well, first of all, I want to stand back and say, well, wait a minute, if Jesus is Lord, the son of God, how can men crucify him? Isn't that what they were saying when they had crucified him and he's hanging on the cross and they're waiting for him to die. They're saying, well, if you're the son of God, let's see if God delivers you. They're mocking him saying, if you're the son of God, we couldn't crucify you. We couldn't hold you on the cross, but we're holding you there. So now I ask the same thing. If Jesus is Lord, the Son of God, how could men crucify him? Can anyone lay their hand on the Son of God to injure him? Well, the answer is yes, but only if God wills it. Only if God makes the way. Only if God ordains it. The reason They were able to nail Jesus to the cross by the hands of the godless Roman rulers. Putting him to death was because God willed the death of his son through the hands of godless men. This man, the Lord Jesus, was delivered up by the predetermined plan of God. What do we say? He was slain before the foundation of the earth. Then the earth is founded, and in time and space, he's slain. But God determined this before he ever breathed life into the first man. He was delivered up by the predetermined plan. It was the plan of God and the foreknowledge of God. Foreknowledge being what he planned and ordained, not what he knew would happen, but what he would cause to happen. Had God not willed it, it would not have happened. Jesus the lamb was not stolen and his life was not taken from him, but he was the offering, the sacrificial offering offered by God himself. What does it say when Jesus died? He gave up his spirit. He gave it up. If he didn't give it up, nobody's taken it. Thus Jesus laid down his life. And I want us to take this in about the crucifixion. God gave his son to appease his own wrath by freely and willfully offering up his only begotten son. If men could crucify Jesus aside from God offering him, he would not be a sacrificial offering. Do you understand the importance of this? If we could take Jesus' life, aside from the will of God, Jesus wouldn't be a sacrificial offering. Jesus had to lay down his life in order to be the atoning sacrifice. According to his foreknowledge, to his foreplanning, As beforehand God determined what he would accomplish, he ordained the plan whereby Jesus would be unjustly crucified by the hands of unjust men as others unjustly condemned him. But in all the injustice of men, God did this so as to save us so it could be written if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Fallen. Guilty men cannot bring the Lord Jesus to suffer the injustice of the cross except God sacrificially delivers him into their hand. And by that God simultaneously proves how loving and holy he is and how hateful and unholy men are. The chasm between the holiness of God and the depravity, the unholiness of men is Almost, almost unboundable, but God. People object to this, that God planned that men are guilty. If God plans it and men are guilty, men want to say, well, how can he hold us accountable? And what does the Apostle Paul answer? Who are you, man, to talk back to God? The potter can make the clay in the way he wants. Some for noble use, some for ignoble use. That's the right of the potter. He has the right over the clay. So people object to this, that God planted, and yet men are guilty. And they say, and this is a favorite saying that I came up with years ago, and so I'm gonna get to say it on resurrection day. They say, well, you can't have your cake and eat it too. And what is my answer? God can. God can. Yeah. God is righteous. And he's right in all he does. Though He perplexes men, He is perfect in all His ways. He in His holiness accomplished what He wills using the free sinful acts of men. He is God and worthy to be praised. As God ordained from before the foundation of the world that the Lord Jesus be crucified as an offering for our sin, He orchestrated all to that end. He orchestrated all to that end. What are we like to say? There's not one maverick molecule in all the universe. God is completely over all. And so Peter could say to the men of Israel, this man, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and you put him to death, but it was by the predetermined plan of God. God was working righteousness through your evil Jesus the Lord was put to death, he was crucified. And now we come to the main point of Peter's message, having spent one verse addressing Jesus' life and one verse addressing his death, Peter takes nine verses to address his resurrection. Verse 24, and God raised him up. So Peter says, you put him to death and God raised him up again. putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for him to be held by its power. So let's talk about Jesus, the resurrected. Jesus, the Lord, the crucified is the risen one. While God worked many miracles, wonders, and signs through him, it is his resurrection that is the capstone and the final, absolute, unequivocal proof that Jesus is Lord in Christ. He is the one and only Savior who saves from sin and hell to life in heaven. In this 24th verse, Peter makes three emphatic statements. First, he dynamically states that God raised the crucified Christ up to life again. I made reference to this in the first service and I'll make reference to it here again. It is absolutely remarkable to me that Peter states this so plainly and matter of fact without offering so much as an explanation. He just says it. And God raised him up again. There you go, that's what happened. God raised him up again. This truth is profound, but it is as simple, if you will, so true that two plus two equals four. There it is, that's the fact. You can argue that all day long. No, no, two plus two doesn't equal four. Let me go to my charts, let me do my equations. You can argue it all day long, but the simple fact is what? Two plus two equals four. So Peter can state the fact very plainly, very simply, just, in a few short words, and God raised him up again. One would think that this kind of a claim would require a great apologetic discourse along with charts and mathematical equations. When I was a little kid, there were preachers, evangelists who would come to our church and do end times studies, and they would have these massive charts that would go around the church to prove that they were right when actually we knew they were wrong. But anyway, if you say, God raised Jesus up from the dead, you'd think, well, prove it. Truth is its own proof. The issue is not that Peter is making a claim, but pronouncing the truth. And there is a great place in our world for apologetics, for explanation, there really is. But there comes a time, church, especially before the loss, that you just need to proclaim and not worry about explaining. Because either one believes or they don't believe. I'm not denouncing explaining, but I'm showing you here what does Peter do? Does Peter go through a great discourse saying, well, this is how it happened. He just says, no, as a matter of fact, God raised him up again. There are times we need to simply proclaim the truth and this is what Peter does. God raised Jesus up and he's emphatic about it. Second, Peter vigorously states that in God raising Jesus from the dead, he put an end to the agony of death. Now, what is the agony of death? He's not talking about being sick or hurting. during a time of dying. That's not what he's referring to, the agony of death. The agony of death is that people live their life fretting over death. Jesus puts an end to the agony of death. Jesus might be calling there, I don't know. Jesus puts an end to the agony of death by saying, no fretting, you will rise again. Though Jesus actually suffered a most terrible death, yet as he was raised to life again, the cords of death were broken along with the torments of his fear and dread. Not only was Jesus raised from the dead, but he was raised never, never, never to suffer and die again. His sacrificial death was the once for all atoning death, and his resurrection, the once for all victory over death. Beloved, think then what this means for us. though we die, yet shall we live. It is appointed unto man once to die, then comes the judgment. And those who are without Christ will face the second death, that is the lake of fire, hell, an eternity of the wrath of God. But for those who are in Christ, as Christ was raised, putting an end to the agony of death, we will be raised incorruptible. As 1 Corinthians 15 says, this perishable will put on the imperishable. This mortal will put on the immortality. Can you imagine that? Then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is what? Sin. And the power of sin is the law. but thanks be to God who gives us a victory over sin and death and the law through our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because he died on the cross, he paid the price, he raised again, and death has lost its agony. It does not have power over us who believe. So church, I say today, rejoice. God raised this Jesus from the dead. And by that, he put an end to the agony of death for all who trusted him. God raised Jesus from the dead. Trust in Jesus as Lord crucified and risen. Thirdly, Peter, emphatically states in this verse that it was impossible for him, Jesus, to be held down by its death's power. Well, of course Jesus rose from the dead. Of course he did. Not even death can hold Jesus down for he is Lord and Christ, the son of God. He is God, very God, by whom and through whom all things were created. Life is in him. He is the resurrection. Death is in his hand. He is not subject to death. The only way he could die was what? He laid his life down. As the children sang so wonderfully, and don't we appreciate the children's ministry, amen? Low in the grave, he laid Jesus, my Savior, waiting the coming day. Jesus, my Lord, up from the grave, he arose with a mighty triumph or his foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever. With the saints to reign, he arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. It was impossible for Jesus to be held by death's power. Upon pronouncing the resurrection of Christ Jesus, Peter begins to show how this Lord who was crucified fulfilled the scripture concerning the Messiah. Not only is Jesus of the line of David as the Messiah must be, but Peter demonstrates that this Jesus is the very one of whom David prophesied, declaring he would rise again. In verses 25 through 28, Peter quotes David's prophetic words as found in the 19th Psalm. Acts 2, 25, for David says of him, now when he says David, they all know he's talking about King David. David says of him, of who? Jesus of Nazarene, Lord, crucified, risen. David says of him, I was always beholding the Lord in my presence, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh will also abide in hope, because thou will not abandon thy soul to Hades, nor allow thy Holy One to undergo decay. Thou has made known to me the ways of life. Thou will make me full of gladness with thy presence. Now, look at this line. Thou will not abandon my soul to Hades, To not abandon the soul to Hades means that the soul had to be there. If he's rescued out of the grave, what does it mean? He was in the grave. So David is clearly talking about a resurrection. And we may say, well, what does all this mean? No problem, for Peter immediately explains it. Expounding upon David's messianic prophecy, Peter says, verse 29, brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. As a matter of fact, if you ever get the chance to go to Jerusalem, I'd sure love for us all to take a trip over there together, wouldn't you? Maybe when they're not shooting rockets at each other, but. If you go to Jerusalem today, you can visit the tomb of David. Been there. So Peter rightly states that David could not have been speaking of himself when he said that there would be no bodily cage. David says there'll be no bodily decay. He's not talking about himself. And that on account that David has died, he was buried and has undergone decay. His tomb remains with them till then, until this day, and has been with them since 970 AD. All, 970 BC, all Israel knew that as fact, what David wrote in Psalm 19, eight through 11 was not about himself. And Peter further explains verses 30 and 31. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. Because God had anointed David making him a prophet and because David had God's promise that the Messiah would come through his line and would rule and reign forever, he wrote then as one looking ahead to the Messiah who would fulfill the promises of God. Though it was 1,000 years before Christ, David was not writing about himself but prophetically of the Messiah who would be resurrected from the dead. By God's promises, David knew that God would not abandon the Messiah, the Christ, to the grave. Of course not, nor would his flesh suffer decay, of course not, but God would raise his son Jesus Messiah from the dead. The Messiah of whom David spoke is Jesus, verse 32. This Jesus, God, raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. So here he's saying it again. Again, God raised him up. Again, we're all witnesses. Jesus is the Christ of God who was raised from the dead, it's obvious. Jesus is the resurrected Messiah. Not only did God perform miracles and wonders and signs through him, but as foretold through the prophet David, God did not abandon the crucified Jesus to the grave, nor did he so much as allow his flesh to suffer decay. He raised him from the dead, resurrecting him to life, and Peter says what? And you know it. You know it very well. The people of the nation bore witness of his miracles, his death, his resurrection. You are all witnesses. Verses 33 through 35. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. Jesus, the exalted. Peter makes the case that this man, Jesus, the Nazarene, who is Lord, who was crucified, who God resurrected from the dead, has also been highly exalted. That is, not only did God resurrect him from the grave, vindicating him, but God raised him to his rightful place, lifting him to heaven, highly exalting him by sitting him at his right hand, the hand of strength, the hand of honor. And as Peter contends, the proof that Jesus is highly exalted is found in you men of Israel and what you men of Israel witnessed today. Now this ties this together with the day of Pentecost. The proof that Jesus is highly exalted is found in you and what you men of Israel witnessed today. As Christ promised that he would pray and the father would send another comforter, that's exactly what was happening. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit of which you bear witness and ask, what does this mean? They were asking, what does this mean? They're looking at each other, what does this mean? What in the world is going on? What does this mean? The outpouring of the Holy Spirit of which you bear witness and ask, what does this mean? Is the sign that Jesus has been exalted to the heavens. Jesus says, I'm gonna go away, I'll send another comforter. That's what this coming of the Holy Spirit proves. Jesus is alive and he's been exalted at the right hand of the Father. This Jesus, you bore witness of the miracles God worked through him, proving him to be Lord. You bore witness of his unjust crucifixion and death, being evil participants in it. You bore witness of his resurrection as God raised him from the dead. And by this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which you witness and ask about, you bear witness that God has raised him to his right hand. What does this mean? It means Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is the exalted one. And so what's next? Have this chronology of events. What's next? Jesus came, Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus is exalted, what's next? The Lord God our Father said to my Lord, the Lord Jesus, sit at my right hand. Now right up to there, boom, we're up to point. Jesus came, he died, rose again, is exalted, he's sitting at his right hand, right? Boom, there's the point until. I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. What's next? What's next? Judgment is next. Peter warns of the judgment to come upon those who deny Jesus as Lord, who are apathetic concerning his death, who doubt his resurrection, and who scoff at his ascension, God will destroy his enemies. With that warning then, Peter says, verse 36, therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Wow. Let the evidence bear witness in you. Let the miracles and the wonders and the signs confirm in you that Jesus is Lord. Let the death of Jesus assure you that of his atoning sacrifice. Let his resurrection confirm in you that he is the Christ. Let the outpouring of the Holy Spirit convince you that he has ascended on high and is exalted and sits at the right hand of the Father and being witnesses of him and also the progressive fulfillment of things pertaining to him, knowing then that his judgment is next. Know this. His judgment is next. Know this. that he's the Jesus you crucified. You crucified him, God raised him up, judgment is coming. Verse 37, now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart. and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Upon hearing that the next step in God's plan is judgment and that they were responsible for all they had witnessed and done, that they were the ones who crucified the Lord, they were pierced to the heart convicted by the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing that Jesus is both Lord and Christ and that reality being demonstrated by many proofs, but stay witness and being reminded that this is the Jesus whom they crucified, they went from asking, what does this mean to what shall we do? They got it, they understood what this meant. Now, what shall we do? What does this mean? Peter tells them what it means. Understanding what it means, they're convicted of their sin and they want to know what do we need to do here? If ever there was an intelligent question, it is this, what shall we do? It's a very intelligent question. In essence, it's the same question the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, remember that? Acts 16, maybe? Don't check me on that. What must I do to be saved? Peter answered the people on that day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two saying this, repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and your children and for all who are far off as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself. Again, in essence, it's really the same answer Paul and Silas gave the jailer when they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your household. How do you get saved? You believe in the Lord Jesus. How does your household get saved? They believe in the Lord Jesus. Repent. Confess your sin to Jesus. Turn from your sin by faith in Him. And someone might say, Pastor Tim, maybe you need to convince everybody that they're a sinner. Really? I'm not explaining today, I'm proclaiming today. Turn from your sin by faith in Christ, believing him to be the Christ who came, Lord, who was crucified, who has risen, who is exalted, who sits at the right hand of the Father and awaits the day of judgment. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. And Peter went on, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. Having repented of your sin, do an about face and follow Jesus. Start following Jesus. If you believe in him, if you truly trust in him as Lord and Christ, then follow him in the obedience of baptism. Your baptism in his name will identify you with him as his disciple. Believer's baptism is the outward demonstration that he has inwardly washed away your sin and you have been resurrected to a new life. With your sin forgiven, you are no longer under the judgment of God. But when Jesus was crucified, he made the atoning sacrifice. He bore the wrath of God for you. Therefore, Jesus says of you, As you come to him in faith believing, he says of you, because I live, so shall you live. So in winding this up, family, before we prepare for communion, I want to announce again to all of you, you are dear, you are precious, you are my family, and you've been created in the image of God. I want to tell you unequivocally, Jesus is Lord. Jesus was crucified. Jesus has risen. Jesus is exalted to the right hand of the Heavenly Father, exalted being both Lord and Christ. Therefore, Jesus is Savior, and He is the Savior of all who trust in Him, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and believing, follow Him, obey Him. Now, having read this account and having the testimony of the scripture before us, having heard the apostle Peter's testimony and with the Holy Spirit bearing witness, we too are witnesses of Jesus. We do this thing where we say, man, how could they saw him? How could they deny him? Well, we've heard of him, how can we deny him? We like to point out that everybody else's sin is worse than our sin. We've heard the testimony of the word and it is God's word. And today we are responsible for the things that we have heard and seen and witnessed. The scripture says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the scripture says, and the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. with Jesus being Lord in Christ and with us being in our sin and under judgment, it would be extremely, even eternally intelligent for us then to ask, what then must I do? What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. This is the promise to you and your children and the generations to come. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that's because Jesus is the crucified, the risen, the exalted Lord, the only Savior of our soul. Would you please bow your heads with me? Our Lord and God, we give you praise. You are the only God, the creator of all. You spoke and all creation came into being. You are our creator. You gave us breath and life. We have a living soul from you. You are the one who gives us a life. It is in you that we move and live and have our being. Oh God, I pray that we would all bow before you and recognize you to be the God you are. We can deny it, but we know. We know. May we no longer in stubbornness refuse what we know or deny what we know. But may we bow before you for you alone are God, holy God. And you have loved us so much that even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You sent your only begotten son, Jesus, to be our savior. We thank you that in eternity past, you plan to deliver Jesus to the cross to be crucified, that it would be the atoning sacrifice in whom, if we believe, we find the forgiveness of sin and our granted life everlasting, resurrection life. We confess our need for you, Jesus, as Savior. We believe in you, Jesus, for you were crucified, resurrected, exalted as Lord and Christ, You are the one and only Savior, Jesus, we trust in you alone and thank you for your saving grace toward us, saving us from sin and death to life everlasting. Our confidence, Lord, is in you. Now may we commit from this day forward to obediently following after you. May we live our lives in the worship of obedience that you might be glorified through us and that the world might know that indeed you truly save those who trust in you. Grant these things, Lord, that we would be lights in this world for you, that our lives would be so extraordinarily holy that the world would know that we belong to you. And Lord, may we be such a family of love, loving our brothers and sisters, that they would know that we are disciples of Christ. Grant us these things as we worship you, for you, Lord Jesus, are the resurrected Lord in Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Well now, family, We have the privilege of sharing in the remembrance of Christ through the observance of communion. And with hearts knit together, we celebrate our communion with Christ. And because we have communion with Christ, we have communion one with another. We belong to each other. I actually think, and maybe sometime I'll talk sometime about it, that because in our world there is a great breakdown of the family, that has affected the church. And we don't understand what it means to belong to each other, to be one family in Christ. But are we brothers and are we sisters in Christ? And the answer is yes. As we have communion with Christ, we have communion one with another. In preparation to partake of the Lord's Supper, I will read from 1 Corinthians 11. And I am gonna ask, unbeknownst to them, I'm gonna ask Chris and Joe, if you brothers would get the emblems for us over there. In a moment, I'll have you distribute them, okay? All right. In preparation to partake of the Lord's Supper, I will read from 1 Corinthians 11. That's where the apostle Paul gives his spirit-breathed instruction concerning the partaking of communion. 1 Corinthians 11, beginning at verse 23, The apostle Paul wrote, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So what we're going to do is what Christ ordained for his church to do. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. By the way, that's something else. I wanna teach on what it means to partake in an unworthy manner. I think the church has made that much of what it is not meant to mean. And therefore we come to the table scared rather than reverent. But whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord, but let each man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink the cup. Now while our brothers are going to distribute the emblems and our sister Ruth ministers to us and to the glory of God by providing music, I'm gonna ask you, please let us take Paul's admonition to heart by examining ourselves to make sure we can partake of these emblems of Christ in a worthy manner, which means you can reverently partake by faith in Christ, with sin confessed and repented of, with trust fully placed in him. While this is a celebration, a celebration of joy and thanksgiving, it is a most reverent celebration not to be taken lightly. So let us examine ourselves and then we will partake of the bread and the drink of the cup together. Brothers, would you please serve? Ruth will play the piano for us. Thank you. In remembrance of our Lord Jesus, and celebration of the communion we have with him and one another, and thanksgiving for his great sacrifice upon the cross as he purchased our salvation, we have before us these emblems, the bread and the cup. Jesus took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. If you would, with bread in hand, Would you please bow with me as we offer thanks to our Lord Jesus? Our dear Lord Jesus, we remember you and with hearts filled with worship give you thanks. What a great sacrifice you voluntarily suffered at the hands of godless men. And you suffered at their hands to save a wretch like me. Indeed, you did suffer in your body upon that old rugged cross. and you did suffer and die for a people like us to save us from sin to yourself. How vast is your love for us and how secure we are in your love. How glad we are to partake of this bread and remembrance of you. By this we do remember you and are comforted. How would we be right before the Father if we were not united with you in your death and resurrection? This time of celebration is a grace to us as we prepare to partake of this bread and consider what you suffered for us, we celebrate that nothing will remove us from the Father's hand and nothing will separate us from your love. So it is with great thankfulness, with reverent celebration, with complete and full joy, and with great comforted hearts and minds that we partake of this bread, remembering you, oh Lord Jesus, be glorified, amen. Let's partake of the bread together. And now with the cup in our hand, I again offer thanks to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice upon the cross where your blood was poured out. We realize that without the shedding of your blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Thank you for shedding your blood for us, making the atoning sacrifice whereby the wrath of God was appeased and our sins can be forgiven. As you suffered in our stead and intercede on our behalf, we are at peace with God. We rest in you. Jesus, you are Lord. You were crucified. You are the resurrected one. You are exalted as both Lord and Christ, and you are our Savior, and we give you praise. We partake of this cup in remembrance of you. Be glorified, O Lord Jesus, for you are the Christ of God, the Savior who has chosen to commune with such as us. We give you praise. In remembrance of our Lord Jesus, that he is the crucified and risen Savior, let us partake of the cup. Amen. And the church said, as our Lord Jesus ordained, we will continue this practice of communion until he comes again. Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus come quickly. And the church says, amen. Now with one voice, let us sing praises to our Lord Jesus. We're going to sing this great hymn of the church. All hail the power of Jesus name. Would you please stand to your feet?