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once Mints in the first place the hospital ministry is this afternoon that's at 2:30 at Heritage Village if anybody is interested in attending that will just meet there about two twenty to twenty-five and then as well on Friday this Friday the 17th at 1:00 p.m. all are invited to attend the wedding of Kristoff and Ashley Kristoff van Marin and Ashley Lou tain so again that's Friday at one o'clock on the 17th well for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 29 Psalm 29 as we hear from the Word of God as we enter into the presence of God to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit Psalm 29 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm of David give unto the Lord O you mighty ones give unto the Lord glory and strength give unto the Lord the glory due to his name worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness the voice of the Lord is over the waters the god of glory thunders the Lord is over many waters the voice of the Lord is powerful the voice of the Lord is full of majesty the voice of the Lord breaks the Cedars yes the Lord splinters the Cedars of Lebanon he makes them also skip like a calf Lebanon and Syrian like a young wild ox the voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness the Lord shakes the wilderness of K - the voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare and in his temple everyone says glory the Lord sat enthroned at the flood and the Lord sits as king forever the Lord will give strength to his people the Lord will bless his people with peace amen well please take your Trinity hymnal and turn to number 218 hymn number 218 will use the first tune and will stand together [Music] [Music] [Music] well let us pray blessed God and holy father it's a joy and a privilege to gather in the house of the Lord on the Sabbath day we acknowledge that you are glorious that you are Most High that you are worthy of praise and worship and adoration the Prophet and the Apostle asked who would not fear thee O king of the nations for indeed it is they do we know because of sin men everywhere rebelled against you because of sin no one fears you a right and because of sin we were far from you and estranged and yet in your grace you sought us in your grace you brought us nigh and your grace you've given us the graces of faith and repentance and have shown us the glory and the majesty and the excellence of Jesus Christ our Lord we give praise to you Father Son and spirit for so great a salvation we give praise to you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus the law that the truth of this perfect life of obedience to the father's law the reality that he died as a substitute in a sacrifice for his people and the resurrection from the dead the third day how we thank you for these glorious truths and how we acknowledge that it's not because of our righteousness it's not because of our law keeping that we are accepted with you but it's based solely and alone upon the doing and the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus may he cause us today to reflect upon him as we look to scripture this morning may you encourage our hearts and may you strengthen us with might and the inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts richly through faith she would cause us to love and to worship and to adore him all the more that we would confess with that bride concerning the bridegroom that he's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 may it be the case Lord God that you would further conform us unto his image through the that the means of grace that you've appointed and we would pray that now you would be glorified that as we come to the Father through the son by the power of the Holy Spirit God would be all in all in this place we confess our sins to you we see your perfect law and it reveals to us your perfections your character your holiness and your righteousness and your justice it reveals as well to us our own proneness to wander and the prone is to leave the God that we love forgive us for transgressing that law forgive us for lacking conformity unto it we send not only in commission but omission we sin against a great and a holy God and we confess that even now and ask for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for those rich and precious promises that we find in the scripture concerning the forgiveness of sins John said if we confess our sins you're faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and in this we greatly rejoice we learn as well that Jesus Christ is our advocate with the father and in this we rejoice in God we pray for all those who have come here this morning Unforgiven those who are dead in their trespasses and sins those who have not come to the Savior King we pray that today would be the day of salvation that your Holy Spirit would attend the preaching of the word and that that blessed word would not return unto you void but it would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it we know that you have purpose to save a multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation we know God as well that your grace is sufficient for the likes of us so certainly there is nobody beyond hope in this place this morning we ask that your Holy Spirit would attend we ask that the conviction of sin would be real we ask that Christ would be set forth and all of his ability to save to the uttermost every one who draws nigh unto God through him we ask thee you'd bless other churches in our community we thank you for those that do preach the gospel we pray that you would prosper them that you would bless them that you would encourage and strengthen them today as they gather together to worship the Living God we pray for this nation we pray that you'd have mercy upon it we know that it is very similar to the days in which Isaiah prophesied when he said woe to those who call good evil and evil good we see the sins of abortion and euthanasia sodomy so openly celebrated in our own land and God we pray that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would change the hearts of those in government and that you would cause your people to cry out and prayer cause your people to be committed to the truth of holy scripture cause your people to shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation and give us the courage and the boldness and the opportunity to hold forth that word of truth be merciful to other nations we read in the last hour of many many suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ in other countries we know there is a great deal of religious persecution upon the people of God in Muslim countries and Muslim nations we see that as well in India with reference to Hinduism and Buddhism we see these so-called peace-loving people aggressively opposing the Lord Jesus Christ and his church we pray that you'd come to the aid and the rescue of your people we pray that you would vindicate your great name in these lands and we pray that more and more steeped in false religion would come out of darkness into marvelous light leaving their useless idols and turning to the true and living God and knowing the joy of salvation in him we ask that you would bless our church be with those unable to be with us this morning bless our brethren the new Feltz bless Beth being with our brother cam and just continue to watch over your saints in this place and many concerns unknown to others but non altima by you we pray that you administer unto them and we ask in the name and for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his name that we pray amen well please turn with me again in your Trinity hymnal to number 223 hymn number 223 will stand as we sing together of the priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ [Music] [Music] [Music] well please turn in your Bibles for our scripture reading to Luke's Gospel Luke chapter 19 Luke chapter 19 we'll read verses 1 to 27 Luke chapter 19 beginning in verse 1 then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho now behold there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector and he was rich and he sought to see who Jesus was but could not because of the crowd for he was of short stature so he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was going to pass that way and when Jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him and said to him Zacchaeus make haste and come down for today I must stay at your house so he made haste and came down and received him joyfully but when they saw it they all complained saying he has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord look Lord I give half of my goods to the poor and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation I restore fourfold and jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost now as they heard these things he spoke another parable because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately therefore he said a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return so he called ten of his servants delivered to them ten - and said to them do business till I calm but his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying we will not have this man to reign over us and so it was that when he returned having received the kingdom he then commanded those servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know how much every man had gained by trading then came the first saying master your Mina has earned 10 - and he said to him well done good servant because you were faithful in a very little have authority over 10 cities and the second came saying master your miner has earned five - likewise he said to him you also be over five cities then another came saying master here is your minor which I have kept put away in a handkerchief for I feared you because you are an austere man you collect what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow and he said to him out of your own mouth I will judge you you wicked servant he knew that I was an austere man collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow why then did you not put my money in the bank that at my coming I might have collected it with interest and he said to those who stood by take the miner from him and give it to him who has ten they said to him master he has ten - or I say to you that to everyone who has will be given and from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away from him but bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them and slay them before me amen well I just want to focus our comments on that first section in verses 1 to 10 concerning Zacchaeus that that we little man and I think for us to appreciate what we see in this passage it's important to remember what has preceded in chapter 18 remember Jesus was approached by a rich young ruler asking how or what he needed to do to inherit eternal life and ultimately throughout that dialogue the rich young ruler went away sorrowful because he was very rich and on the heels of that the disciples said or the disciples asked who then can be saved after Jesus says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven the disciples said well who can be saved well we have an instance of Zacchaeus as being a camel going through the eye of a needle we see that with men all things are or what is impossible with men is possible with God and we see the conversion of this man Zacchaeus very clearly in verses 1 to 10 Jesus says it would be easier for that camel to pass through Jesus says that with God all things are possible and here specifically he does that with reference to this wee little man the stories awesome Zacchaeus can't see you know or he can't see because of the crowd now because he's blind but because he's too little he's too short he can't see over them so he's he's up that sycamore tree and we see our Lord stop at the base of the tree and looked up at him and tell him to make haste and come down because I must eat with you tonight and so the man does he does as he's told I love that about Zacchaeus when Jesus tells you to come down out of the tree by all means come down out of the tree when Jesus tells you to repent from your sins by all means repent from your sins when Jesus says come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest by all means come to him this is what Zacchaeus does he makes haste he comes down out of the tree and then we get what is so typical of man with reference to the grace of God they complain all the people around they complain they grumbled a murmur they whine they say well that's not fair let me just tell you something right out the grace of God is not fair if you want fair you get the justice of God you get the righteousness of God you get the judgment of God we should all want the grace of God these people complain and grumble and whine because they didn't want Zacchaeus to come into saving contact with our Lord Jesus Christ Jesus says very clearly what his mission is in verses 9 and 10 he says today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost you don't have to find yourself before coming to Jesus you don't have to fix yourself before coming to Jesus you don't have to clean up your act before coming to Jesus because it's Jesus who finds it's Jesus who cleans it's Jesus who put sinners back together just come this morning we're going to look at the Sermon in Peters Sura Peters sermon in Solomon's porch in Acts chapter 3 and it's all about Jesus it's all about repent turn unto the Lord God look to Christ in faith don't tarry don't stay don't wait but rather be like Zacchaeus this wheat little man who made haste hurried down the tree and knew what it was to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ well let us pray father thank you for this display of power and the salvation of Zacchaeus in the same context where you Lord Jesus says it would be easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God you see or we see your power we see that all things are indeed possible with a gracious and a merciful and a sovereign God how we thank you for that mercy that grace and that sovereignty that we know experientially and how we thank you that you've dealt so kindly with us and may it be the case that one of the things the main thing that everybody would take away from this morning time of worship is that the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost and we pray this in Jesus name Amen we'll turn in your Trinity hymnal again to number 393 hymn number 393 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] you can turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts or in Acts chapter 3 you have one of the signs done through the Apostles that were mentioned in chapter 2 at verse 43 that sign is the miraculous healing of a man who had been born lame that's in verses 1 to 10 and then the people are amazed at what had at what they had seen so Peter uses the opportunity to preach a sermon directing Souls unto the one who had healed this man so I'll begin reading in verse 1 of chapter 3 now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer the ninth hour and a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask alms from those who entered the temple who's seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple ask for alms and fixing his eyes on him with John Peter said look at us so he gave them his attention expecting to receive something from them and Peter said silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk and he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength so he leaping up stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking leaping and praising God and all the people saw him walking and praising God than they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with Wonder and amazement at what had happened to him now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's greatly amazed so when Peter saw it he responded to the people men of Israel why do you marvel at this or why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the of Our Fathers glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go but you denied the Holy One and the jost and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses and his name through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know yes the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all yet now brethren I know that you did it in ignorance as did also your rulers but those things which God foretold by the mouth of all his prophets that the Christ would suffer he has thus fulfilled repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus Christ to us preached to you before whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began for Moses truly said to the father's the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren him you shall hear in all things whatever he says to you and it shall be that every soul will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people yes and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow as many as have spoken have also foretold these days your sons of the prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our fathers saying to Abraham and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed to you first God having raised up his servant Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities amen well let us ask God's blessing upon our time father thank you for the written word we pray now for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we pray that you would guide us and our thoughts and in our understanding direct us to the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ and again for any who have come here this morning that are not in Christ we pray that today they would come they would believe they would make haste they would hurry down that tree they would know what it is to to have union with the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and repentance do this for your glory do this for the well-being of sinners here and grant grace to your word grant that your word would run swiftly and be glorified all throughout the earth bless our brethren and Surrey being with the Brethren and Vernon and may you be glorified in the midst of the churches and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as we saw last week in verses 1 to 10 that wonderful miracle of healing the man had a congenital disability he had been lain lame from his mother's womb he was over 40 years old everybody in the city everybody around there knew the man it wasn't as if it was done behind the scenes there was no sort of smoke and mirrors it was an obvious public display of a healing this man walked delecti praised God because he had received strength and his ankles as Luke tells us but even more so because he had received the grace of God and salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ well as I said based on that Peter now uses the opportunity to set forth a particular sermon concerning the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and I think it breaks down in three sections first we see the authority of Jesus name in verses 11 to 16 secondly the necessity of repentance from sin in verses 17 to 21 and then finally the consistency of the Old Testament witness to Jesus in verses 22 to 26 I don't suppose we're going to get through all of this material today but I do want us to observe how important it is for Peter that he connects this whole event namely the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and the healing of this particular lame man he connects this to the Old Testament prophets in other words the Apostle is saying that they are the rightful expounder zuv and the rightful interpreters of the Old Testament Scriptures it is the unbelieving Jews who have disregarded Moses it is the unbelieving Jews who have resisted what Samuel the Prophet said it is the unbelieving Jews who have who have abandoned all thoughts concerning God's Word with reference to the Messiah it is the Apostolic interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures that are correct it isn't the unbelieving Jews and this is one of the emphases in this passage he connects this work of Christ to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob well let's look first at the authority of Jesus name in verses 11 to 16 and Peter does hear what he does on the day of Pentecost he first says what this isn't and then he secondly says what this is remember when the Spirit is poured out in a rich measure in an abundant measure on the day of Pentecost men began to speak in other languages and some marveled some looked at this and they were amazed that they could hear that the great and glorious works of God in their own language but some mocked and said oh these men are filled with new wine these men are drunk these men have have imbibed too much and that's the explanation for this phenomena so Peter stands up and says these men are not drunk in other words there's a denial that's not what's happening in this particular instance on the other hand here is what's happening it's a fulfillment of the Prophet Joel and it is about the person in the work of the Lord Jesus well Peter does that here too he says first of all in verse 12 what this isn't and then he says in verses 13 to 16 what this is so again we're at Solomon's porch Jesus taught there according to John 10 at verse 23 it's in the eastern part of the court of the Gentiles later in Acts chapter 5 we'll see them assembled there again sort of on the exterior of the actual temple building when we refer to the temple it's a it's a compound it's a complex of buildings and so they are east of the temple within the temple precinct at this porch called Solomon's now the man that had been healed is clinging on to Peter and John Peter and John and some suggest it's because he doesn't want to go back to being lame in other words I'm going to hold on to these men because they're the source of power and authority and the means by which I know I'm lame I think it's better to understand affection love appreciation these are now my brethren these are my my family these are the brothers who brought to me the glorious truth of Jesus Christ that's why he's clinging to that but then the crowd is amazed at what's happening here the crowd has seen this man having been healed and they had known who he was so note Peters denial in verse 12 he says so when Peter saw it he responded to the people men of Israel why do you marvel at this or why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk he got first question is fit appropriate and legitimate why are you marveling at this lords when Jesus was on earth Jesus did this very thing these are Jerusalemite sinners these are persons that were familiar with what Christ had accomplished remember he was a man that went about doing good he healed the blind he healed the lame he raised the dead he fed the multitudes so essentially what Peter says is why do you marvel at this if Christ could do it personally when he was physically present on earth he can certainly do it from his position of authority at the right hand of God most high but then as well Peter says it's not us I love this Peter says silver and gold we don't have we also don't have power or godliness I'm not saying he's completely devoid of godliness but I am suggesting that Peter understands the nature of ministry properly it's always intrigued me that the word minister has become a term like rev rend or it's become a term of significance what does minister mean it means servant if every time we thought about gospel ministers we thought about civil ministers we saw them as servants we'd be closer to the mark Peter doesn't say it's our healing ministry Inc it's our abilities it's our power it's our godliness that has brought health and healing to this man that's not what's happening here Peter has an accurate understanding of the Christian gospel ministry he doesn't take credit for himself he doesn't launch out on his own he doesn't say hey John we now have a cash cow we heal people and we have them bring their money and we bless blankets and we bless cloths or we bless whatever and we send it back with the people after they send in their easy payment of only 3995 that's not what Peters about Peter does not take any credit whatsoever for himself Peter understands what Paul will later write concerning the nature of gospel ministry Paul says we have this treasure gospel treasure in earthen vessels another way we could sort of define or translate earthen vessels is cracked pots I think that's a good way to understand it the idea is is that God takes gospel treasure and puts it into men like Paul puts it into men like Peter puts it into men like James and John puts it into men like CH Spurgeon or John Calvin puts it into man that have issues for all of the great heroics of all the men that I've just mentioned we know at least we do of the men that aren't written of in Scripture they had issues they had struggles they had sins they have remaining corruption it's a it's a it's a mysterious thing that God takes crackpots and he puts gospel treasure in them but the purpose is clear according to the Apostle he says so that the power may be of God and not of us in other words when Paul went to a city and proclaimed the truth and sinners got saved it was God that was glorified it was God that was exalted it was God that was praised and the same thing is what Peter is doing here it's not us it's not our power it's not our godliness we don't have that we don't just bounce around from place to place losing power and oozing godliness you cannot ascribe spiritual salvation or physical healing to man you ascribe it to the God of heaven who sent his son into this world that's the focus for Peter to verse 12 as a denial it is in US verses 13 to 16 is the affirmation who it is and essentially in verses 13 to 15 he identifies the healer it's Jesus Christ and in verse 16 he indicates exactly what he's done in the life of this lame man but I want to look at verses 13 to 16 with three thoughts here are three considerations first the God who glorified the servant secondly the sinners who rejected the servant and thirdly the servant who healed the lame man I think this is the essence I think this is what Peter is doing here with reference to this preaching but note first in verse 13 a he says the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of Our Fathers glorified his servant Jesus there is no better way Peter could say to his audience at this particular time you missed it by a mile than this you missed it completely just to give you a bit of a foreshadowing ignorance and verse 17 is not innocence when Peter says I know that you acted out of ignorance you and your rulers he is not saying therefore you are rendered innocent it's ignorant of the prophetic word that was crystal-clear that focused upon the suffering of the Messiah you were ignorant in that you missed it Paul describes his previous life life in first Timothy chapter 1 at verse 13 as a life of ignorance and then he goes on in verse 15 to say chief of sinners he calls himself back so don't interpret verse 17 as if these Jews were absolutely innocent of any culpability whatsoever of killing Messiah that's not what Peter's doing Peter's saying you missed it I say as clear Daniels clear Ezekiel is clear Jeremiah's clear the Salters clear Moses is clear they all give with one consistent voice this testimony concerning the suffering Messiah and you have missed by a long shot and so when he comes to interpret the power behind the scene with reference to the healing of the lame man he refers to Yahweh verse 13 the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the Apostle highlights that this work is ascribed to that God so it's not ascribed to some foreign God some new God or some newfangled deity named Jesus John Calvin says he saith that he bringeth in no new religion that he may draw away the people from the law and the prophets so what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 the twenty do not think that I came to destroy the law and the prophets or it's in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus had already gained notoriety for teaching probably the question had arisen in the minds of many what's he think concerning the Old Testament law what's he think concerning the prophets what does he think concerning that body of literature that we call the Old Testament he says don't think for a moment don't even let it begin to rise up in you that I've come to destroy the law and the prophets well Peters doing that here the Apostles have not come to destroy the long the prophets the Apostles have come to announce that one whom the law and the prophets announced and and and preached and proclaimed that one has come and they had crucified Him notice the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob John dill says though he and his fellow apostles were preachers of Christ yet they were not setters forth of another or a strange God but believed in the same God their forefathers did and to whom they ascribed the glory of this miracle see this is the point wasn't us our power or godliness it starts with the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and then notice what he goes on to say concerning this God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob he raised up his servant Jesus now it's important for us to think Isaiah when we see that language of servant because the prophet Isaiah tells us about this servant of Yahweh he tells us this in Isaiah 42 he tells us in Isaiah 49 he tells us in Isaiah 50 and then again in 52 / or 52 to 53 in other words this servant of Yahweh this particular figure announced by the prophet Isaiah that would come that would save his people from their sins that would gather them together that would bring blessing upon them that would do great glorious things it culminates in that fourth servant song Isaiah 53 where the Lord was pleased to bruise him he's put him to grief that blessed servant of the Lord that man of sorrows that one acquainted with grief well know Peters statement here specifically in verse 13 the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of Our Fathers glorified his servant Jesus specifically isaiah 52:13 behold my servant shall deal prudently excuse me he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high we know that Luke applies this language to Jesus elsewhere Luke's Gospel Luke 22 there's a Isaiah 53 passage in the mouth of the Lord Jesus applied to himself later on and Luke's narrative in terms of the Acts of the Apostles remember that Ethiopian eunuch remember what it is that he's reading he's reading Isaiah the prophet Isaiah 53 and the fill of the Ethiopian eunuch asks Philip who's the prophet writing about who's he talking about is he talking about himself you talking about somebody else what's the tax say it says that Philip preached Jesus from this past beautiful and here brethren when you see this reference that God glorified his servant Jesus think Isaiah think servant of Yahweh think that man described in 42 49 50 52 and 53 these men should have understand or should have understood these persons should have gotten it but obviously they were ignorant let us not be ignorant brethren let the Word of God in the New Testament inform your understanding of the Old Testament let the Old Testament inform your understanding of New Testament now he's saying that assumes that you read both Testaments there is a defectiveness among the people of God more often than not when it comes to the Old Testament it was a well I don't want to read that because it's not about Jesus that is absolutely positively untrue the Old Testament is all about Jesus you want to learn of Jesus go to Genesis you want to learn of Jesus go to Exodus Leviticus numbers Deuteronomy we could be here a while as I trace through the 39 books but you get the point see for the Apostles they had this body of literature called the Old Testament there was the that the open book concerning who this man was we see that even for the Lord Jesus when he lived on this earth according to his humanity we learned like Samuel that he increased in wisdom and stature among men and God well how could the Bible say that about Jesus he's got he's the god man and according to his humanity he would increase in his wisdom and in his understanding no doubt reading the Old Testament he was the only one that could ever read the Old Testament and say wow this really is about me it's a beautiful thing and I would suggest that you need to think Isaiah when you see this reference his servant Jesus FF Bruce said in order to explain how the had been cured Peter found it necessary to relate the act of God which had so recently been accomplished in their midst the had been cured because Jesus had been glorified from his place of exaltation Jesus had endowed his disciples with power to act in his name and to perform mighty works such as he himself had performed in the days of his bodily presence among them that's absolutely spot-on they're marvelous they're amazed they see this man who was lame he's now up and he's leaping and he's praising God and they look at the Apostles as if perhaps they have some Authority and they have some some godliness that is that is used on this man and it's been the resulting factor for this man to walk in praise Peter says no no this goes back to Yahweh Yahweh spur paseo weighs plan announced by the prophet isaiah that he would by his servant and that is precisely what has happened now note secondly the sinners who rejected the servant in 13b to 15 now we might think Peter a bit negative here Peter let's just have a positive Bible study why are you such a downer and you have to bash these people over the head with the bad things they've done you don't want to make people feel bad well brethren before anybody ever wants Jesus they have to understand something that they're sinners it's just the way it is it's why preachers at times will tell you uncomfortable things not because they want to pick on you or make you feel bad necessarily but Jesus came to call sinners to repentance not the righteous if you're just soup in your own well-being if you just chat it up and basically told what a great guy or gal you are you will never ever understand your need for the Savior but when you're a Jerusalemite and Peter says you delivered him up you denied him you asked for a murderer your wretched when Peter gets to repent therefore and be converted hopefully you're ready to pay attention hopefully you're ready to track hopefully you're ready to listen and and do what we just sank venture on him venture holy I love that language venture on him venture holy there is a blessed reception when by grace you venture now note what Peter does he speaks of them having delivered up and denied Jesus I mean verse 13 God glorifies his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go now we've worked our way through Matthew's Gospel in the law in the last several months or we finished up in the last several months we saw that we saw how they delivered up Jesus to Pilate we saw how they denied him they didn't own him as Lord and Savior they didn't confess him as Messiah they didn't say this is Isaiah servant this is Daniels Messiah this is you know the the man spoken of the the Adonai and the the Book of Psalms that they didn't do that they deny Jesus they said we have no king but but Caesar these were Jews part of the theocracy and they're they're owning Caesar as Lord brethren they denied and they delivered him up to Pilate but Luke goes on to tell us something concerning Pilate now Pilate was a wretch don't let you know this sort of a reference say oh well Pilate was after all a ain't good and noble fellow because he was the Turk no pilate was a relentless man he was a wretched man there was no good thing about Pilate he wasn't sort of that you know jovial optimistic positive sort of fella he would crush Jewish rebellion with great severity of necessary he was not sort of predisposed to doing kind things for people so the fact that Pilate was determined to let him go it was more than obvious that Jesus should have been let go you get that you're not dealing with a man who's predisposed to let people go you're dealing with a man who's predisposed to not let people go and if that man is going to want to let Jesus go it must be more than obvious that Jesus should be let go that turned to luke's gospel for just a moment so you can get something of what he means here when he says that Pilate was determined to let him go Luke 23 now I only want to highlight this because I think it does exacerbate kids exacerbate is a word that basically means makes it a whole lot worse your mom and dad come home and you're standing in the kitchen and you've got a face full of chocolate and chocolate all over your hand and cookie jars you know got chocolate sort of dripped on the outside it's very obvious that you've taken cookies from the jar and your folks ask you about that and then you lie and you try to say no it wasn't me it's that that invisible child that lives in our home not me that kid gets a lot of blame in every home not me did it not me okay so you do that and then you find out that that was the the the thing of cookies that that we were gonna have tonight when Grandma and Grandpa came over that exacerbate your crying it makes it that much worse now if you've ever stolen a cookie I don't think you should go to jail or you know crime is probably a little bit harsh but but just follow along when Peter says that Pilate was determined to let him go and you godless men said away with him away with him crucify him that exacerbates their sin that heightens their culpability it shows what kind of man Peters addressing now notice in Luke 23 for so Pilate said to the chief priests say on the crowd I find no fault in this man notice verse 15 we're just running through some passages there verse 14 you have brought this man to me as wanting misleads the people and indeed having examined and in your presence I have I have found no fault in this man concerning those things of which you accuse here and then notice in verse 15 he says nope neither did Herod for I sent you back to him and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him verse 20 Pilate therefore wishing to release Jesus again call out to them and then verse 22 then he said to them the third time what what evil is he done I have found no reason for death in him I will therefore chastise him and let him go that is just an incredible statement concerning their guilt if a man like Pilate was determined to let him go and you were insistent on pilots crucifying him what does that say about you it's not saying pilots okay it's not saying pilots gonna get off scot-free Pilate certainly bad but man it's the people that that pushing through the system now notice they had asked for a murderer instead of Christ verse 14 you denied the holy one end the just holy one and just is probably messianic you see the Lord our righteousness is what he's called according the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 23 so this language holy and just probably is messianic probably Old Testament stuff applied to Jesus concerning his status as the Messiah you denied the Holy One and the Justin asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead you remember that scene Matthew's Gospel we want we learned that Pilate wanted to let him go as well you see both in Matthew and in Luke pilots attempt to give the people or to give Jesus amnesty it was a custom at that time of the year Passover that Pilate could release one who was found guilty of particular crimes Pilate says I get to release one thinking that amnesty would obviously be granted to the one who had never done anything wrong thinking that a people would never ask for Barabbas I mean remember Barabbas isn't just a thief he doesn't just go to the corner store and steal his sneakers Barabbas is a terrorist Barabbas is an insurrectionist Barabbas is probably a murderer Barabbas is a really really bad guy on every count so Pilate says there's an amnesty here you could either have Jesus you can have Barabbas well we know what they do they ask for Barabbas you see what Peter's doing he makes this contrast in acts 2 he speaks about you crucified God raised up he does that all throughout this section as well God glorified his servant Jesus the one remember you delivered up the one remember you denied the one remember you denied even when Pilate was determined to let him go and then add sin upon sin you asked for Barabbas you asked for a murderer you asked for a man who had blood on his hands who deserve to die for those of you who've been in our church for any amount of time you know that we take seriously what the Bible says concerning capital punishment may I just say to you the current Pope is absolutely positively 100% wrong on capital punishment the Bible doesn't suggest it the Bible doesn't recommend it the Bible doesn't say if you think it's a good idea the Bible demands it specifically for the crime of murder so Barabbas deserved to die at the hands of the civil state he did and yet they said give us Barabbas well what do you want me to do with Jesus we remember the refrain away with him away with him crucify him Peter is showing the treatment of God with reference to the servant and now he's showing us the servants treatment at the hands of these godless men they had killed the Prince of life some of your translations may have they killed the author of life both are good you see this term used again in 531 you see it Hebrews 12 - or 12 12 - and then in Hebrews 2:10 and it can be Prince or author or originator he's the very author of life he's the prince of life and yet here's how you treated him isn't this just sick and pathetic isn't it terrible when we see what man is apart from God's grace you hear that at times oh man is essentially good I'm not denying there's a there's a decency at least outwardly that some people do possess and I'm thankful my neighbor never comes over with a 38 and shoots me I'm I'm thankful that he's decent that way but men left of themselves apart from the grace of God do this to God this is how men is toward his creator he's not positive he's not receptive he doesn't run to him he doesn't love and honor and adore him that's not what man in sin does with reference to God why do you think Sunday morning or every Wednesday night that we read voice of the martyrs why is it that all these people suffer at the hands of other religions Muslims persecute Christians Hindus persecute Christians Buddhists persecute Christians typically Christians mind their own business they just do they pay their taxes they keep their lawns cut they go to work they love their families why are they such a menace I think ultimately this is what happened in the Roman Empire they began to be given freedom and liberty probably the idea being they pay taxes they do what they're supposed to do why would we want to hurt them but in these other nations these other religions why are they persecuting somebody who keeps to themselves and does what they're supposed to because they hate their God it's that simple why does the secular state persecute Christians oh yeah they come up with a whole host of things like you're prejudiced and you're bigoted or whatever they are targeting the people of God because they hate the God of the people Edwards was right Christian martyrs exists because men can't get to God if men could build a tower high enough and find God there on his throne they would gladly rip him from it and throw him to the ground and stomp all over him the moment you begin to say well Butler that's a bit of hyperbole and exaggeration that's precisely what happened to Jesus they threw him to the ground and they sceptile over him and Peter is telling these wretches this so that when he says repent and turn they don't say it well what do you mean I'm a good guy I'm a good girl no you're not you're polluted your filthy your wretched cuts in the business of receiving filthy polluted and wretched sinners the glory of God is displayed in this passage where Peter actually says to Jerusalem sinners once again repent and be converted the idea there of that be converted it's probably turn no word like repent the idea is repent from your sin and turn to God see that's why he's heaping up this guilt that's why he's you know functioning as a travel agent of guilt this is why he is giving this to them so that when he calls upon them to repent there's not gonna be any hands raised what do you mean what do we need to repent see a gospel preaching that is devoid of preaching God's law or preaching man sin is going to be a gospel preaching that makes no sense why would I need Jesus to save me from my sins if I live in North America and I have a beautiful house and I have a beautiful family and I have beautiful dogs and I have beautiful cars and a beautiful boats and I have beautiful hardware why would I need Jesus because you're wretched and undone and sinful and a target of destruction verse 26 or rather verse 23 is a terrifying verse we'll see later and it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be not the language utterly destroyed from among the people it's intriguing because what Peter does there is he not only uses Deuteronomy 18 but he conflates it would do Leviticus 23 and the admonition and 23 of Leviticus was on observing atonement someone who doesn't observe the day of tone of atonement will be cut off and utterly destroyed watch Peter's point if you Jerusalem sinners disregard the atoning work of Jesus you will be utterly cut off you will be destroyed you will be cast out there's a reason why Peter goes from the God who glorified the servant to the sinners who sin against that servant so that when he gets to the statement repent and be converted its welcomed blessed good news notice Peter goes on Peter says that the Lord God raised him never forgetting the contrast between their treatment of the servant and God's treatment of the servant you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses the Apostle is not simply providing them with information to sort of inform their biblical understanding I just want you to have a better well-rounded idea of who Isaiah was speaking about I just want you to know that that Jesus is in fact the Y and amen of all the promises have got certainly he's doing that every appeal to the Old Testament every statement concerning the mouth of the prophets is doing that but as Peters in a staccato sort of format lays upon them their sin it's so that they'll repent it's so that they will forsake I'd like to think every time that we preach in this church or any time that you evangelize sinners you tell people their sin not because you're mad at them or because you hate them or because you're grieved with them but because you want them to understand what they are before a holy God so that they can understand that that Christ is the sort of Savior that stands at the foot of a tree where this little fellow goes up in and he says to him make haste and come down because because I'm going to eat dinner at your house tonight so you need to know the bad news before the good news makes sense you need to understand the gravity of your problem before you see the enormity of God's grace that's what Peter is doing here I think John Calvin describes it well he says he mean lift with doctrine a most sharp chiding according as the matter did require for it was impossible to bring them truly to God unless they were first brought to the knowledge of their sins neither doth he only lightly touched them but he doth very gravely show them the horribleness of that offense which they had committed he's not just doing a little bit I hope you get that through this cursory sort of exposition this this glance at this passage he is not playing games he's not looking to be popular he's not the sort of guy that you see today verse 12 well yeah you know I don't have the power and I don't have the godliness but but certainly God chose me because I I am a cut above I have a little bit I I have a nobility I have a virtue doesn't do that he's self effacing he does not take people looking at him as acceptable and then when it comes to dealing with his audience I mean I could just hear somebody today you know Peter you're you're in Jerusalem you read Solomon's porch this could get ugly if you say the things that you got planned to say I mean people don't like to be told the sorts of things you're fixing to tell them Peter doesn't care Peter wants them saved and in order for men to be saved there's a lot of things but they need to know that they're there damn they're lost or they're there they're gone they need to know that unless preachers tell them that they'll never respond when preachers say repent and turn why repent why turn everything's pretty good my life that's the problem we face in North America I think that's the problem we face with with an affluent culture people don't see their need preachers do them no favors either they come along and basically preach Jesus as another means for happiness you know add Jesus to your life and you'll just be that much happier brethren I don't think North America people are suffering from a lack of happiness I think they're suffering from a lack of righteousness and we preach Christ as righteousness we preach Christ as the one in whom alone is salvation you see brethren that's what Peter is doing he's not out to make people feel bad except for then feeling bad so they'll flee to the one who is good Calvin summarizes men must be so stricken that being brought to know their guiltiness they may earnestly fly under the remedy of park that beautiful if you don't know your guiltiness you're never gonna fly now I suggest at times like these people say well I know that I'm a sinner I know that I'm bad I know that I'm evil I know that I broken the commandments of God I know that I struggle with the seventh commandment I know that I struggle with the eighth commandment I know that I struggle with 1/2 tanh of the commandment I know I transgress them I know I lack conformity unto them what do you say to me I say believe the gospel look at Jesus focus on him or to use Peters language here repent and turn leave that garbage put off that sin look to him who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand that's how the bride describes the bridegroom in Solomon's song I know Solomon's song has been sort of twisted and distorted over the last few years it's been utilized as some sort of a sex manual for couples no it's a picture of Yahweh at Israel it's a picture of Christ in his church and how does the church describe her Christ he's altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand you see that one is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through him so if you know your misery you know your sin I'm not saying you've known it for fifteen years and now you're ready to go if you know that you're a sinner come 393 venture on him venture holy I love that the hymn writer Joseph Hart they're beautiful beautiful hymn tells us he is able he is able he is able he is willing not no more we talked about that on Wednesday night if God if Christ is is willing to say but he's not powerful to that's a bummer I mean I guess it's nice that we have somebody that would like to help us but they can but if he's able to save and he's not willing that's a bummer too isn't it I got the power to free you I've got the power to keep you I've got the power to deliver you but I'm not willing to do it why do you think heart ends on that he is able he is able he is able he is willing doubt no more now I know there are some of our higher brethren that may suggest that he's not willing have them show you that in the Bible have them show you chapter and verse where our God is not willing because I suggest the opposite can be demonstrated in multiple places that the opposite that God is willing that God is gracious that God does receive I'd point them to the father of the prodigal who when that wretched boy was a long way off the father runs to him the father falls on him the father kisses him and the father puts a ring on his finger he puts a robe on his back he brings the boy home or choice it because my son who was lost is found and the one who was dead is alive that's the God of the Bible for those extra high brethren that suggests God's not willing tell them to show you chapter and verse pony up hyper-calvinist pony up show us where God is unwilling to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Jesus Christ let's see it oh well you know rationally and logically what does the Bible say and I'm all for rationality and logic don't get me wrong not embracing caecilian is Amir but brethren exegetically theologically comparing Scripture with Scripture God is absolutely sovereign absolutely positively 100% no argument whatsoever God uses means God calls sinners to repent God calls sinners to turn God uses sermons like Peters at poet Salman's porch to bring the weight of conviction to bear upon them so that they won't just go bad and go home and and say that Peters a meanie but rather I'll come to Jesus he'll flee they'll stop playing games the stop saying well you know all these just come one or times do men hide behind hyper-calvinism do men hide behind Sovereign Grace do men hide behind some of these things that they entertain because they want to continue and soon I had that happened one time many many years ago I was preaching in a particular place and this guy came up to me and he said no preacher is able to explain to me either did you know sovereign election a man's responsibility I'm not highlighting this say Jim Butler is great it's just a piece of autobiography that I think illustrates the point this guy came up loaded for bear Oh what about electric what about this what about that in the course of our discussion I said what's her name he said what do you mean what's her name I said it sounds like you got some particular sin that you don't want to let go of God later not because of that I wouldn't expect that guy got saved later on I wasn't gonna play his game about election and responsibility I will feel logically engage that debate I will happily discuss it from a biblical point of view but if a sinner who is convicted wants to start playing those games it tells me there might be I'm not saying always there might be this desire for the particular sin that they've grown very fond of that might be not always but it might be if they really don't understand lead them through it talk to them tell them here's what scripture says now believe repent be converted you see Peter doesn't play games conviction of sin and then he tells them repent and be converted it's a beautiful thing if we just do what God says it's really really good now notice finally we'll stop here we'll pick up God willing in verses 17 and following next week but notice the healing or the servant who healed the lame man after telling us the identity of this servant he's the one whom God glorified and he's the one whom you deny Peter gets to the questioner Peter addresses the situation they're amazed why this guy is healed Peter says well the healing has as a result of verse of Jesus verse 16 and his name through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know yes the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all the name of Christ is the origin or the source of the authority or power by which this man was saved I think the fact that the name isn't being used in some sort of magical way is indicated by the through faith the name stands for the person it's not just a recitation a recitation of a name Jesus Jesus Jesus and will get healed Jehovah Jehovah Jehovah and we'll get you know that bag of money that's not the way it's to be understood it's not a secret word that we recite to get from God the name is representative of the person of our Lord Jesus that's why in 412 Peter is going to say nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved it's not magic just say the word Jesus and you'll be saved just say the word Jehovah and you'll be saved no it's through faith faith is the means by which sinners come into saving contact with God the Lord this is why we emphasize I hope every single Sunday that you ever hear a sermon in this place you will hear it told to you believe on the Lord Jesus faith it's through faith that's what that's what cements the deal as it were so it brings us to that one it's the empty hand that receives the free gift given by God so beautiful and a wonderful thing but it's the name of Jesus that is the source of the origin of his authority it signifies that Calvin says name is taken for power and Empire or government and then just to sort of conclude our exposition here and we'll conclude soon the proof of God's divine agency rather divine agency the fact that this was supernatural that it came from without and invaded this man and was done in the presence of them all that wasn't the Apostles power or or godliness notice these three things just by way of conclusion first they knew the man's previous condition his name sixteen through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know they knew this they knew who he was they saw him on the streets they saw him begging at the beautiful gate they knew this man and now this man's walking leaping and praising God imagine that you see person that you know is congenitally congenitally this disabled you you know that are born lame they're over 40 they've never walked a step in their life ever and then you see them not just walking but leaping and praising you might be inclined to say why are you leaping if you've never walked before leaping seems like the best thing in the world what else am I going to do my ankles have strength I'm gonna leap like a bunny I'm gonna leap until people say stop leaping say say try and describe color to a blind man and then he receives his sight I think he's gonna do look at black and white he's gonna look at rainbows and myriads of color so you saw this man Lane you saw him asking alms just saw him eking out a miserable existence and now he's walking and leaping and he's praising God as well the completeness of his healing see Jesus doesn't kind of heal Jesus doesn't partially heal Jesus gives perfect soundness I love the language there and I think we ought to extrapolate the spiritual significance of that as well he doesn't partially save you from your sins he doesn't save you from you know 99% of her sins he doesn't bring you into the presence of God on condition of your obedience in your behavior he saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him brethren he is a real Savior for real sinners just as he was a real healer for this real lame man and then the publicity of the the healing he has given him the this perfect soundness in the presence of you all beautiful Peter and John went to pray they make metal a man on the way he asked for alms he held as palms and this is what Peter did say they're not silver and gold but what we have I'm gonna give it to you and the name of Jesus Christ be healed the power of the name of Christ all hail the power of Jesus name it's a beautiful way to summarize what Peter the Apostle is calling us to do in Acts chapter 3 and 4 see the narrative continues this is backdrop not backdrop alone it's the main point but chapter 4 is going to be religious persecution this brings them into the public eye this brings them before the Sanhedrin this increases the persecution of the people of God why because they're preaching the name of Jesus again it's not because they're bad they're not out you know fomenting rebellion against you know either the Sanhedrin of the civil state they're probably paying their taxes they're working hard they're doing what they're supposed to but it's the God they worship that is despised and as a result these Jewish unbelievers are going to call these men to stop of course I will tell you they don't and we will see that as we move through the passage well brethren in conclusion the miracle of healing here is to first and foremost direct sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ as well it is to demonstrate the glory of that Christ it is to show the power exercised on earth is the power he exercises from the right hand of the Father I think we can mess that up at times as well you might be thinking there well if I was we little Zacchaeus and I was sitting up in that sycamore tree and and Jesus did say come on down from there well of course I would have he would have been right there he's right here now and this demonstrates that he doesn't have be physically present at the gate called beautiful in order to heal that way man he does it from his position of authority at the right hand of the Father he doesn't have to be at the foot of your sycamore tree to save you if you hastened down it he's here believe on him turn from your sins turn unto God and he will heal you he will forgive you we'll see next week it's not only the command to repent and be converted but it's the blessings he will walk with your sins I love the language blot them out it's blotting out it's not just he you know he kind of White's it a little bit I've been reminded when I think it was Kelly I would feed her and you know as a new dad and she have all that stuff on her face I don't think I was delicate wiping I think I was a blotter I think I didn't like any of that sort of green food on her face I would blood I hope she doesn't remember that it's probably a little bit you know a harsh at the time that's what God does with sins he didn't just come to you and delicately said you got something he blots them out I am he he says through the Prophet who blots out all your iniquities the verb is rich the verb is beautiful the verb is glorious it means to remove so as to leave no trace isn't that what you want done with your sins aren't sins terrible can any of you say sin is wonderful and it's the best thing in the world and it produces peace and joy and happiness in my own life and in my family's life and also in the church sin is great no soon as horrible what does God do when he blots it out he removes all traces of it say well why do I still have all these issues remaining corruption different sermon different text but for now it means to remove to destroy - Oh blitter rate I can't encourage you enough to consider how wonderful that sounds - stop - turn unto God through Jesus Christ the Lord believing what the Bible says concerning ya believing the gospel and knowing the joy of this afforded by the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob to sinners through his servant Jesus Christ well let us pray father thank you for your word thank you for your grace thank you that even Jerusalem sinner's had the gospel preached to them and I pray Lord God in heaven that you would open ears and hearts here that all of us would appreciate the graciousness of the gospel that we would all see the glory of Jesus that he would be to each one of us altogether lovely and and chief among 10,000 we pray that you would go with us now and that you would keep us and watch over us help us by grace to sing sanctify this day and to enjoy what the Puritans called the Market Market Day of the soul and we ask this in Jesus Christ our Lord amen well let us stand and sing the doxology as praise to our God Father Son and Holy Spirit the doxology will pray a sing together [Music] the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace amen well let us be seated for a brief time of meditation