Resurrection Sunday 2016

He is risen. This morning we get to take time and to meditate upon that central truth of Christianity, the resurrection. It is a truth that I find more appropriate to sing than to speak about, which makes it a very frustrating on a day like today when I have a sore throat and a cold. I couldn't sing to save my throat. I am thankful that you all sang so robustly and faithfully so that I could enjoy your rejoicing in the resurrection. I find it easier to sing because when given the task to talk about the resurrection, it's daunting. It's more powerful than I can fathom. The resurrection has accomplished more than we can even begin to scratch the surface of this morning. In the few minutes we're going to gather, Truth, like we've already sung about, from Christ the Lord is risen today. Lives again our glorious King. Where, O death, is now thy sting? Dying once, he all doth save. Where thy victory, O grave? Love's redeeming work is done. Fought the fight, the battle won. Death, the vain, forbids him rise. Christ has opened paradise. Soar we now where Christ is led, following our exalted head. Made like him, like him we rise, ours the cross, the grave, the skies. We're rejoicing in a victory that's been won for us. The death we deserve, it's been conquered. The death that we all face, Christ has overcome it. Now we have hope of life. Every Sunday is a resurrection reminder. We're busy, we're forgetful, we're tempted to sin, we sin. So this is why Christians for 2,000 years have gathered on the first day of the week to remember Christ is alive. He's not dead. He's not still in the tomb. He's risen. He's risen so that we no longer have to live under the shame and guilt of sin. He's risen so that we no longer have to continue in our destructive behaviors of sin. He's risen so that we can have new life. This morning, because the resurrection is so central, we're going to take a break from what we normally do. We normally preach through books of the Bible so that we're constantly hearing from all of God's word. We're gonna take a break from Romans, and we're gonna turn to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. There should be a Pew Bible in front of you. If there's not, please just tap the fellow next to you or in front of you and make sure you get a Bible. We're on page 910. We're on page 910. The resurrection. Christ is risen. We must remember this. We must rejoice. Acts 2 is the beginning of the church. We see here the first Christian sermon. Christ rose 50 days earlier. The disciples who, let's just face it, during the ministry of Christ, they were cowards. They were unfaithful. They were incredibly frustrating to Jesus, their master. They never did what they're supposed to do. They constantly failed. Christ died for their sins, he rose again, and then these men who were constantly afraid, they're cowards, they're in their room, terrified, hiding, and Jesus appears to them. This is what changes these men. The new life of God that they saw, Christ risen, that victory, it made them. Made them willing to fight. Made them willing to face death. It made them willing to enjoy this victory. And so we see here at Pentecost, Peter standing up and proclaiming bold truths. So this morning, we're going to look at the first sermon, the first Christian sermon preached. And we're not even gonna look at all of it. We wanna focus on what Peter ends with, and that is, you must know that Jesus is Lord and Christ. This is what we want you to know today. Jesus is both Lord and Christ. And we know this because of the wonders, the works he did, the miracles, the things that he taught and the things they did, they point to who he is. But more than that, his death for sinners, his resurrection, a new life, this is how we know he is Lord and Christ. So look with me, Acts chapter two, we're gonna pick up in verse 22 where Peter begins specifically to address men of Israel. 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, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 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. Therefore my heart was glad, 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. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. 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 had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ. That he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are also witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, They were cut to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? 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'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Will you pray with me? Father, we approach you in the name of Christ and we ask that as we ponder these first truths proclaimed about Christ, who he is and what he's done, as we ponder the essential truths for who we are, enable my stammering tongue, most of all, Lord, enable our hearts to set aside the sin that hardens us, Lord, Most of us have heard these truths over and over again. I pray today we would not be bored at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray today that you would stir up within us the hope that we have, a reality of the death we face and now that we will rejoice in the hope of eternal life we have in Christ. Pray we'll be stirred up to rejoice. by living obediently according to your grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There are six reflections that I want us to meditate upon from this passage. Fairly simple, just reflections based upon the high points of what I believe Peter has said. First, God testified Jesus was the Savior. That's verse 22. God testified that Jesus was the Savior. Second, God planned Jesus' death. God planned Jesus' death. Third, we put Jesus to death. God planned the death. That's number two. Number three, We put Jesus to death. Fourth, God raised him for our new life. God raised him for our new life. That's 24 through 34. That's the heart of the passage. Fifth, we must know he is Lord in Christ. And sixth, the action, repent, be baptized. This is the gospel message of Peter. Is the Savior testified by God? God planned his death. We put Jesus to death. God raised him up. We must know he is Lord in Christ. Repent and be baptized. Let's look at verse 22. God testified Jesus was a Savior. 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 had Did through him in your midst as you yourselves know Jesus ministry was marked by healing and teaching It's interesting if you look at the gospel of Mark he he starts out by pointing out all the different kinds of miracles He was casting out demons the the lame walk the blind saw and he's teaching and people want to come out and they want to hear What is this man saying? What is he doing? He he's helping so many people and And then Mark, in chapter two, he makes a very interesting turn. Four friends come with a paralytic, and they tear the roof of a house. They lower this paralytic down, and immediately Jesus doesn't say, get up and walk. Immediately he says, your sins are forgiven. This is a significant turning point in the gospel of Mark, in the ministry of Jesus, because it's showing us These signs and wonders that people are coming to see Jesus for, this isn't the main focus of his ministry. These things are done so that everyone who's coming to him would know that their physical well-being isn't the primary problem. It isn't the primary purpose. Jesus Christ came to forgive sinners. That's his purpose and his mission. You see, this is significant because everybody loves a good wonder worker. We like doctors. They make us feel better. Everybody likes a teacher. There's somebody who helps us understand things. We like to be helped by doctors and we like to listen to teachers, but Jesus is different. Because when he says, I forgive you, he's saying he's God. He's worthy not just of our attention. He's worthy not just to submit, to say, okay, I'll take this medicine. No, he's worthy of worship. God used signs and miracles and wonders to help everyone see this man is different. But there's plenty of people who help others when they're sick. There's plenty of good teachers. What makes him unique is he's the son of God who can wipe away your sin. He's a son of God who forgives you of your sin. See, it's different whenever he claims to be God. This one that we're thinking about this morning, this one that we're proclaiming has risen. He came to die for us, to bring salvation. Now, notice something in this text, verse 22 at the end. As you yourselves know, Peter's already kind of emphatic. You already know this. People from Jerusalem, they would have seen Jesus. They would have been hearing about him. Many of them may have witnessed miracles. They've certainly met people who have witnessed miracles if they haven't witnessed them themselves. Here we say, well, if we could see these things, maybe we believe in Jesus. I think this is why the gospels, this is why God has given us Doubting Thomas. In John 20, this is the account of the resurrection, we hear this. Now Thomas, one of the 12, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand to the side, I will never believe. See, Thomas says, I have to see to believe. I'm going to tell God what he needs to tell me in order to believe. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas answered him, my Lord, and my God. Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Thomas walked with Jesus for three years. He saw miracles. He saw Jesus help the blind. give hearing to the deaf. He saw the lame walk. He was there when Lazarus was raised from the dead. He still didn't believe until he actually saw Jesus. And notice what Jesus says to him. Have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. He says this for us. Because chances are you're not going to see the risen Christ. but you can believe in him. See, God's given us this account from eyewitnesses. God has given us his word so that we can know who he is, we can know what he's done for us, and we can trust him. Brothers and sisters, friends, if you want to know who God is, it's as simple as saying, God, speak. Take and read his word. We've provided a very simple Gospel of John. It's something you put in your pocket. Take it and read it as you go. Take that Bible that's in front of you. Read the Gospels. That is where you will come, not with eyes, not with the touching of your hands, but if you want to know who Jesus is, if you want to see him so that you might believe him, take up his word. Ask God, will you show yourself to me? Help me see my sin, help me see that you died for my sin, help me see you in your resurrection. God desires for all of his people to see him, to know him, and to love him. If you want to see him and to know him, take up his word. The second reflection from Peter's sermon God planned Jesus' death. Verse 23, Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. The cross wasn't plan B. The cross was always the plan. God designed, even in Genesis 3, we can see a promise made that a child is going to suffer, a child will be born to suffer. We know now that that child was born to die in the place of all the other children. What's amazing about this plan is it's so perfectly prophesied. We can look and just think about the theme of a lamb. Israel had to sacrifice a lamb every year and reminded them of the deliverance from Egypt. It was supposed to help them see, I am presently a sinner who needs forgiveness. And most of all, it was supposed to look forward to when Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, was going to come and offer that one sacrifice, offered once and for all. See, when we think about the resurrection, we have to first go back and, well, many of us were here Friday. Many of you all were here Friday. Think about the death. Jesus had to first come and die a death he did not deserve. He came and died the death we deserve. We've lived in rebellion, we've refused to obey God and so Jesus came and lived that life that we refuse to live. That's why on the cross he's able to die in our place offering his life for ours. He suffers the death we deserve and then he gives us the righteousness that that is his that is not ours See it was all along God's plan To send his son to die for those who rejected him In the midst of the curse in Genesis 3 God said I'm going to send a son He's going to suffer for these people so that they can have life It's been planned so Christian It's been planned. This is how sure your salvation is. God planned it. God has determined before the foundation of the world that Jesus would die for us. God determined before the foundation of the world that we would be his children. He is powerful to save us. It is his definite plan. It is definitely secure. When we are doubting, we need to look to Christ. It's his love, it's his power, it's his purpose that demonstrates to us in the resurrection that our salvation is secure. His life is our victory. God planned his death, God planned his resurrection, our salvation is now secure. We need to look at the third reflection in light of the second. Notice how Peter continues. Let me read verse 23 in its entirety. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. We're thinking about the greatest act of evil humankind has ever performed Good Friday was meditating upon the greatest act of evil pure evil Creatures deciding they're going to put their God to death Creatures Deciding that instead of worshiping this God who created us. We're going to nail him to a tree and It's the height of our rebellion. Now, you may have the rebuttal, but those men did that. I would never do that. Friend, I assure you that apart from the grace of God, if we had been there, we would have been spitting and punching and cheering. Our hearts resist God and rebel against God. If you don't believe me, think about how we live our lives. We tell God we like him whenever we need something. See, our relationship with God is by nature already automatically backwards. We don't look to God and say, God, how can I worship you? How can I give you all of my life, all the time? No, we say, God, I actually need you right now. Can you help me out? See, our ultimate end is us. That makes us think we're God. Our problem is that God is supposed to be there to help us rather than the other way around. He created us to worship him. This is what the whole God is dead movement was about. It says God doesn't matter anymore. How much of our lives are lived like that? How much of our lives are walking around pretending and acting as if God being alive, Jesus Christ being raised, it really doesn't matter. How much does a resurrection affect your life? See, we act as if it's better if God were dead. Much less when God actually approaches us and points out our sin and tells us this is what's wrong, we get upset. This is what the cross, this is why the cross is so important. It is our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. Our sin is the reason Jesus was nailed to the cross. That is how bad our sin is. Jesus had to die and suffer for our rebellion. Now here's a beautiful theme as we think about these two statements together. God planned it, man did it. If we go back to the theme of Genesis, what man intended for evil, God used for good. What a glorious theme throughout all of scripture, but especially in Genesis. Genesis teaches us that the origin of all that is good is God. It teaches us that all that is evil is not from God. But God is so sovereign that he is able to take our evil intentions and use it even for our good. He takes our evil intention to put him to death, and he uses that to give us life. We can see how God has controlled the evil intentions of man in the prophecies. Go back and look at Psalm 22. It says that there will be men there at the foot of the cross, casting lots for the Messiah's clothes. What's interesting about that prophecy, that pagan Gentiles fulfill it. They're not good Jewish people saying, hey, this is prophesied, we need to do this. No, it's pagan Gentiles unknowingly doing, they're accomplishing the very thing God said would happen. There is also another Jewish leader. John tells us about in John 11. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was a high priest that year, the one who's supposed to lead Israel in worship, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. Caiaphas, who's upset, Jesus is really crashing into his territory. Caiaphas has his nice little powerhouse. The Romans have given him power and he doesn't want the Romans getting upset. So he's plotting with evil intent. Don't you know it's better for this man to die for the entire nation? Yes, but not like you understand, Caiaphas. It's better that he die and take away the wrath of God so that all who believe in him will be safe. Let's get to the Main point, our fourth reflection, God raised him for our new life. Verse 23, it's according to God's plan, it's because of our sin. Verse 24, notice the action. God, speaking of God the Father, raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by. Here we see God's power to give life to that which is dead. Peter is convinced that as he quotes David's psalm, David is not talking about himself. David's dead. Of course he's not talking about himself. It's very simple. You don't need a special degree in interpretation to understand David can't be talking about himself because David's dead. He's talking about someone else. He says David, he's a prophet. And David's a unique prophet because God told David in 2 Samuel 7, you will have a descendant sitting on the throne forever. And so here in Psalm 16, we believe this as David was told that you will have a son sitting on the throne forever. You'll have a descendant. Here he's foreseeing who that son is and that he will not decay. Again, the focus is on the fact that he's been witnessed. You see, Christ is risen. He is the king who's conquered death. Now, this is the most unusual conquering we'll ever hear of. When God Almighty, the king, came to bring new life, came to win that ultimate and final victory, he was beaten, spat upon, mocked, tortured, and died. This is an unusual victory. He was declared king on that day. by a pagan emperor who was mocking him. This is the king of the Jews. The most true declaration of the day was the centurions who dressed him up, put a robe on him, put a crown of thorns, gave him a rod, and mockingly said, you're the king, save yourself. The most true declaration of the day was mocking the king who is the true king. What is clear for us is that in the death of Christ, death is now dead. In the death of Christ. This is a simple little formula for you to remember for the rest of your life. In the death of Christ, death is dead. He conquered the grave because he died suffering the wrath of God. He died being buried again and he rose again because the pangs of death could not hold him. He's the God of everlasting life. So what now for us? First, he's at the right hand of the Father. We look up to Christ in temptation. When we are entangled in sin, look to Christ, the perfecter of your salvation. You can read more about that in Hebrews or wait for Sam to preach on that soon. Secondly, we need to look up to Christ in despair. Anyone who believes in Christ always has hope. It's difficult to get to sometimes, but when we are in despair, we must look to Christ and ask, show us our hope. And third, we need to look up to Christ in doubt. He is the assurance of our salvation. Not how well we're obeying Him, but how powerful He is to save sinners. We just were in New York for a funeral. What a great preparation for Easter. And it's sad the way our culture wants to ignore the sad and difficult reality of death. We no longer call funerals funerals. We call them celebrations of life. We want to avoid the sad reality as much as possible. We wanna pretend it's not there. God, because of our sin, he wants us to see the real consequence of our sin. It's death. It's separation from Him forever. I mean, let's just face it. Everyone in this room, unless Christ returns before we die, we're gonna be put in the ground. Your body is going to decay. Unless you get a coffin that's just impenetrable, the best outcome of your body is that maybe a tree will come up that will give a bird a place to nest. Maybe a flower or a fruit. But that's the end. This body is going to go into the ground and it's going to decay. Death is reality and death is extremely sad. We're going to lose loved ones. We ourselves are going to end. Life is short. Death is reality. It's difficult, it's painful, it's sad. This is why the Bible commands we mourn. We're supposed to mourn, we're supposed to miss our loved ones. But if we're Christians and they're Christians, we mourn with hope. You see, we mourn the loss of loved ones and we celebrate the life of Christ that brings new life to that person who believed in him. God raises us up so that we can know There's hope. God has risen Christ so that we can know there's life everlasting. Pretending death isn't real is just keeping you further away from the reality of salvation in Jesus Christ. Our fifth meditation. Verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him, God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucify. There's two important titles here. He's Lord and he's Christ. Lord is a declaration of deity. God the Father has clearly made him known to be God the Son. Now, let's just, for a second, step back. This is pretty unimaginable. God, the creator, came into his creation and put on creation. That's what we celebrate at Christmas. I realize this is Easter, but we have to first get to Christmas. God, the creator, stepped down into creation. Then God, the one who was made in his image, he took on the form of a man. God, the giver of life, suffered death. God, the just judge, suffered the consequence of our sin. This is what's taking place. This is how we know he is Lord. Jesus Christ, God Almighty, the just judge, he suffers the penalty for our sin. God, Jesus Christ, the giver of life, he suffers death. More specifically, God the Father, crushed Jesus, his own son, so that we could share in the love of his family. That's the reality of Easter. God the Father crushed his own son so that he could love us without sin being the barrier. See, Jesus is not just the greatest teacher. Jesus is not just the wisest man. Jesus is not just a wonder worker. Jesus is God. He's worthy of worship. Our glory must decrease in order for his glory to increase. The most dangerous lie out there for us Christians is this. Our Christianity hovers around us. See, Jesus, we like to have him as Savior, but we don't like to have him as Lord. That is not the gospel message. We really like a savior who rubber stamps what we think, rather than saying, God, whatever you say is what I believe. God, whatever you decree is what I will do. God, your truth is greater than whatever my opinion is. You see, if there's an area of our lives where we say God can't touch that, there's your idol. If we don't submit in every way and everything, we're not submitting at all. Jesus Christ, we must know for certain, He is Lord. He is God who saves us. He is worthy of our worship. Secondly, He's the Christ. This is the anointed one, the promised one. He's the good news. He's the one who's come to be the intercessor. He comes between God and man to help man, and well, He's come once. And that was to bring peace. The anointed one, he's going to come again. And the next time he comes, he's going to make all the enemies of God his footstool. He's going to conquer them. Now we can believe in Jesus and be forgiven. When Jesus comes back, there will be no opportunity. He will conquer his enemies with judgment. If you're not a Christian, Today is the day where you can hear his voice. Today is the day that you can recognize, I have sinned, I need a savior. Jesus, will you forgive me? Jesus, I want to know you in your risen life. Will you help me? This is why he came, to die for sinners, to rise again, to give them new life. Finally, repent. and be baptized. See, whenever you come to Christ, you have to realize, I was running a hell-bound race. I was in the midst of destruction. I was adopting destructive patterns of life. I was running to death. I was running to condemnation. And whenever you see that and you see what it was leading to, you say, Jesus, save me from these things. Forgive me. and then you turn from them. That's what repentance is. It's acknowledging that what you have been doing and saying is against God. And once you see that it's destructive, once you see that it's destruction and damnation, you turn. See, if you're not a Christian, just hear this very clearly. God does not desire to take anything that's good away from you. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. Whatever he's asking you to repent of, it's not good for you. It's destructive. It's going to lead in damnation. Whatever you think it is that you are trying to hold onto to keep yourself from God, that is not good for you. God takes everything that's bad for us. And he sent his son to die so that we would be forgiven and we'd be free. God wants to turn us to that which is truly good. He says, repent and be baptized. Baptism is simply the great declaration, I believe in Jesus. I die to the old self, I die to sin, I am risen again a new life. I have a new identity and it is Christ. If you're not a Christian this morning, do not leave quickly. Please talk to someone. These are the truths that define who we are. These are the truths that I pray could define you. God wants to take that which is destroying you and free you from it. God wants to save you from the damnation that is your destiny if you do not repent and turn to Christ. Believe in Jesus. He will forgive you. Christian. How much of your life is marked by your faith in the risen Christ? What we haven't even touched is you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you the power of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. It means we're supposed to live anew, not with more rules, as you'll hear next week in Romans 14, but with a greater desire and a love and a new way of worshiping. Worshipping the one who's really worthy of worship, rather than worshipping our own lives. So Christian, something to talk about with your friends, your family, other members. How can my life be more marked by the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not turn your back on us when we rejected you. but instead you turn yourself to be with us and for us. You sent your son to die for us. You've risen him again and we rejoice today in that truth. Lord, if there is someone here, those that know you're here, let them truly be cut to the heart. Lord, let your spirit penetrate the heart that doesn't allow them to leave here. Without seeking, what does it mean to repent? What does it mean to believe? What does it mean to be baptized? Father, I pray for those of us who believe in Christ. Help us to be more faithful to you, our Father, to know Christ is Lord, to know He is God, and to seek to live a life that worships Him and honors Him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.